UCSB’s defense will have a different look Tuesday when the Gauchos play host to Cal Poly in key Big West men’s soccer match at 7 p.m. at Harder Stadium.
Both teams are trying to keep pace in the standings with undefeated UC Irvine.
Senior center back Michael Boxall and senior goalkeeper Sam Hayden are out for UCSB as they serve suspensions for red cards. In their places, freshman Eric Reyes will get his third start in goal and utility player Tim Pontius figures to be the choice to hold down the middle of the back line.
“We have what we have,” said UCSB coach Tim Vom Steeg. “It probably won’t be our 11 starters against Cal Poly, but our game is still at the offensive end. This team is way too good going forward not to get 10, 12, 14 quality looks at goal.”
The Gauchos (5-3-2, 2-1-0 Big West) peppered 15 shots on goal and 31 total shots in their 3-0 win over Cal State Fullerton last week.
Sam Garza is the team’s leading goal scorer with four, but he could easily have more if he was a little more accurate with his shot. He leads the conference with an average of 3.78 shots per game.
Freshman David Opoku also has put himself in positions to score more than the three goals he has at this point.
“We need to get him a little angrier inside the six-yard box, because he’s doing some good things,” said Vom Steeg.
Michael Nonni has scored only once, but he appears on the verge of breaking out of his goal drought. He was energized and dangerous in the 3-0 win over Fullerton, especially in the last 20 minutes of the match, running hard at the defense.
“It’s incumbent on our forwards and midfielders to get it done,” said Vom Steeg.
Cal Poly (4-4-2, 1-1-1) comes into the game off a heartbreaking loss at league-leading UC Irvine. The Mustangs gave up the winning the goal in the 88th minute.
Forward Tim White has scored in Cal Poly’s last two matches and leads the team with three goals.
The Mustangs have struggled to score. They have just 11 in 10 matches. But, they have pulled off some impressive results, beating Indiana 1-0 and playing UCLA to a scoreless draw.
The Mustangs have some solid veteran players like senior forwards David Zamora, and Junior Burgos and junior center back Patrick Sigler.
This is the first of three matches this week for the Gauchos. They play host to 11th-ranked Duke in a nationally televised game (Fox Soccer Channel) on Friday at 8 p.m., and play at UC Riverside on Sunday at 6 p.m.
